Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to provide lessons in (a) English and (b) Welsh to asylum seekers in Wales.

The Home Office does not provide English or Welsh Language lessons as part of the provision of Asylum Support. Accommodation providers do signpost asylum seekers they accommodate to local statutory and non-statutory bodies who may provide these services. Local authorities have a duty to provide suitable full-time education for all children of compulsory school age resident in their area. The education must be appropriate to the child’s age, ability, and any special educational needs they may have, regardless of their immigration status. Local authorities must offer free school places in accordance with their published admissions arrangements, and they must ensure that there is no unreasonable delay in securing school admission for any child.